Christ invites you to come to Him. Come to Him for care and compassion. Come to Him for understanding and acceptance. Come to Him for love and forgiveness. Come to Him for wisdom and discernment. Come to Him for energy and encouragement. Come to Him for confession and repentance. Come to Him for faith and patience. Come to Him for rest.

His invitation for intimacy is perpetual. You do not use up your allotted time and then move on to endure alone. You can engage with His eternal resources weekly, daily, hourly, and even moment-by-moment. Our Lord is a resource that never lacks resources. Do you RSVP to your invitation for intimacy, or do you later regret sending your regrets?

His revelation comes to those who choose to rest and reflect on Him. Jesus said, “No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27b). So, sit quietly at the feet of Jesus and He will direct you in the way to go. Busyness tends to blur our course, but quietness before Christ brings clarity.

Job in humble dependence on the Lord said, “Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong” (Job 6:24). David said, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters” (Psalm 23:2). The Lord leads us to quietness.

What is Christ attempting to communicate, but in your hurriedness you can’t hear? Is rest a part of your routine? Do you take the time to listen to the Lord, or has He increased His interest from an invitation to insisting. Sometimes He uses sickness or injury to get our attention. When we are on our backs we have to look up and see that Jesus offers rest.

Because the Son is intimate with His Father, He offers intimacy to you. You learn of Him when you long to love Him and know Him. There are no shortcuts with your Savior. He is the journey and the destination. Are you weary and worn out? If so, it is in your fatigue that He wants your faith to flourish. Be still, listen and let Him love you and revive you.

“But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me” (Psalm 131:2).

What is Christ’s invitation for me? Am I rested and resolved to walk in the Spirit?

Related Readings: Isaiah 30:15; Isaiah 32:17; Luke 23:56; Hebrews 4:1-3

Good sinners still need a Savior for all of us have sinned. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Your goodness can even be an obstacle to your salvation. Goodness without God is our feeble attempt to earn eternal life in heaven. But if goodness were the gauge to God, how would we know when we were good enough?

Good deeds do flow from a heart given to God, but our works do not get us to God. Faith is what connects us to Christ. When He asks us to give up something, it becomes a trust issue. Can you trust your Heavenly Father to provide what you need? Even if you give Him your most prized possession? A relationship? An opportunity? What’s the Lord asking you to leave for His sake? Be glad, not sad to give up a good thing for God.

It’s your humble and holy dependence on Jesus Christ that gets you to heaven. But even after becoming a Christian, your goodness can get in the way of glorifying God and growing in grace. Good sinners are tempted to judge bad sinners. Self-righteous behavior is as bad or worse that unrighteous behavior. So as your moral standards grow, grow in grace. Grace filled Christians are gracious, loving and compassionate. There is no high horse of judgment, but only the low place of humility and gratitude to God.

Grace engulfs your goodness and badness, as the ocean closes over a diver. So, swim in the sea of your Savior’s love and forgiveness, and you will never lack what’s necessary to stay afloat in life. We are all sinners: some good–some bad. What makes the difference for both is the appropriation of God’s grace. Sin is like riotous vegetation in the untamed wild, but grace tames the heart. Love, trust, mercy, obedience are its fruit that remains.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

What does the Lord want me to give up? Who can I help, instead of judge?

Related Readings: Job 41:34; Jonah 4:2; Luke 18:9; Romans 14:3-10

Evidence for God is all around us. We experience Him in the miraculous birth of a child, we see Him in the brilliant creation of a sunrise and sunset, and we watch Him heal and forgive through the providential process of prayer. Jesus shows up everyday all around us and the evidence for His presence demands action. How do you respond to His reality?

We can ignore His interest in our life, but why? What is the downside to laying down our life for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? He gave His life for us, so we in turn can give away our life in humble service to others. The evidence of His eternal love is reason enough to repent. Christians today–who won’t change–face a more severe judgment.

“The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here” (Luke 11:32). Jesus warned of not responding to the truth of His teachings.

What is the spiritual condition of your city? Is it in chaos because of financial crisis? You can be a catalyst for reform and restoration for Christ. Pray about how you personally, and how your church corporately, can engage your community with compassionate resources. It is during downtimes that the masses are most open to ministry. Adversity opens hearts.

Do the lost see the faith you have found? Or, do your beliefs blend in with everyone else’s, without the enduring evidence of your Master’s miraculous works? Perhaps He is calling you to a greater commitment to serve those in acute relational and emotional hurt. Your light shines brighter the darker it becomes. Serve people where they are, and warn them of a more severe judgment to come. Your life is compelling evidence of Christ’s love.

“To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).

Am I a catalyst of change for Christ? Who do I need to warn of a more severe judgment?

Related Readings: 1 Kings 8:46-51; 2 Chronicles 32:26; Acts 11:18; 2 Corinthians 7:9